The Clumsy Project
by SmurfyFriend
Summary: Brainy and Clumsy smurf 's day in the woods went bad when Clumsy turned terribly ill. With time running out, Brainy discovers a hidden truth about his best friend.Can Brainy handle the truth Clumsy has under the surface?Told from Brainy's POV. R&R
1. ACT I

_Have you ever had a friend that you're not really sure why you stay friends with?_

_And then one day you find out,_

_But by then it's too late?_

* * *

><p>I was awoken by a loud pounding on my door. Forcing my eyes to open, I fumbled about for my glasses. I'm basically blind without them. Papa smurf calls it "<em>high congenial myopia<em>", or "_very nearsighted from birth_." I call it a pain in the smurf. I found them and put them on, not even stabbing myself in the eye. I lighted a match and touched the flame to a candle wick, lighting it. With the light from the candle, I checked the time. 5:33. Smurf me. There's only one smurf I know that gets up at this unsmurfy hour. Grumbling a little from the lack of sleep, I walk to the front door of my one- bedroom mushroom house. Bracing myself for a dumb question of some sort, I open the door. Sure enough, there he was: Clumsy Smurf. Complete with baggy trousers, floppy hat, large, awkward feet and longish awkward limbs to match. He had a big grin on his face that stretched almost ear to ear. "Hiya, Brainy!" he said happily.

I yawned a little, stretching my neck. "Clumsy, what're you doing up so early?" I asked, trying to tone down my just-woken-up crankiness down a bit. "It's 5:30 in the morning!"

Clumsy looks undeterred. "I know! You said we had to go collect Moddleroots for Papa smurf early in th' mornin' so, here I am!" he said with his loud (slightly uneducated sounding) southern drawl.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my eyes, feeling a bit annoyed. "Clumsy…" I said calmly, "'Early' means 7:30, 8:30. Not 5:33 in the morning!"

Clumsy looked sheepish for a moment, his big feet turned in awkwardly. "Oh, gawsh, Brainy. I'm sorry." He said looking down.

I sigh a little and wave my hand. "That's okay, Clumsy." I said. "Just go back to bed."

"Gawsh, Brainy. I'm sorry I woke you up…" Clumsy said, walking back to his little mushroom bungalow.

He tripped a couple of times, but laughed at himself a little and dusted himself off, moseying along at his own clumsy pace. I blinked my eyes a little, then shuffled back to bed. I blew out my candle and put my thick glasses back on the nightstand. Then I got in bed and pulled the quilts up to my nose. I love Clumsy. I really do. He's my best friend- well. Probably my ONLY real friend- and I love him like a brother. But I must confess, he drives me absolutely SMURFY sometimes! Between his dumb questions, his loud voice, and the fact he can't walk thirty feet without hurting himself, he's the very definition of 'an accident waiting to smurf'. There are days I truly wish he was some other smurf.

But he's also loyal, honest, and very forgiving. I doubt we ever could've stayed friends if he wasn't so forgiving. I often smurf my patience with him, yet he always forgives me. He's always got a happy, easy-going, bordering on dense disposition. He's always got some kind of bruise somewhere, from some accident. And he apologizes at the drop of a hat. It's hard to stay mad with him, even for someone as smurf-headed and stubborn as me.

As it happens, after Clumsy woke me up at 5:30 that morning, I couldn't fall back asleep. Two hours later, what should I hear but a knock on my door. Already knowing who it is, I couldn't help but crack a smile. Clumsy may be dense sometimes, but he sure stuck to his promises. "Gimmie a few minutes, Clumsy." I called through the door.

"Uh, Okay, Brainy! I'll just wait here…" Clumsy replied.

I find my glasses and smurf on a clean pair of pants and hat. Another stretch of my neck, and I was ready to face the day. _Hmm. Collecting Moddleroots with Clumsy smurf. What accident will smurf today,_ I wondered. _I bet he falls into another bramble patch, or he trips in the thistle again. Or, with his luck just about smurf himself falling down the hill… again! _I swear, Clumsy smurf is an accident waiting to smurf.

I opened the door, and was immediately greeted by Clumsy smurf falling backward into my doorway. "Oops! Sorry, Brainy." He apologized.

I put a hand to my head in an exasperated manner and sighed. "It's okay, Clumsy." I said, offering him a hand to help him up.

I swear, this smurf would be lost without me. I pulled him up, and waited for him to dust himself off before we walked to the outskirts of the village, the uncoordinated smurf stumbling over his feet every few yards. It doesn't take long for us to get to the herbs and roots we need. "Okay, Clumsy, I'll start over here, and you go over there. We'll head back to the village in a little while." I said, pointing to a bush with the roots we need.

Clumsy smiled again and nodded his head comically, making his too-big-for-his-head hat bob. "Uh, Okay, Brainy!" He said, stumbling over to the bush I pointed at.

We pick roots and plants for about a half hour before my stomach reminded me of a plain fact: we skipped breakfast. I looked up from my root- picking and scanned the bushes for a wild smurfberry bush. _They're scattered all over the place, there must be one around- aha! _A dark green bush with bright red berries caught my eye. Seeing as Clumsy and I shared mostly the same schedule, I think it was safe to assume Clumsy was hungry too. "Hey, Clumsy. How about we smurf a break and have some break-" I turned around. Clumsy was nowhere to be smurfed.

_Now where could he have gone_, I wondered. "Clumsy?" I called into the wilderness. "Clumsyyyy?"

I looked around some for the smurf, feeling a little more anxious. I couldn't see him next to any of the bushes where the roots we needed were. And he wasn't next to the smurfberry bush I spotted. Where could he have gone. My anxiety calmed a little when I found him in a mushroom patch not far away, but then they flared up again when I saw what he was about to do. "Clumsy! No! Don't eat that!" I yelled, running up to him and batting the toadstool out of his grip and inadvertently tripping him.

Clumsy turned over and looked up at me from the mushroom patch, a slightly flabbergasted look on his face. "Don't you remember what Papa smurf said? These toadstools are VERY, _VERY_ poisonous! One bite could've killed you!" I chewed him out. "You're lucky I found you… Don't you remember what Papa smurf told us?"

Clumsy stood up, but then proceeded to look down and shuffle his feet a little, embarrassed. "No…" He mumbled. "I remember he took us all here and said something. Wasn't sure what it was."

I put a hand to my head and rested the other one on my hip. "Oh, Clumsy…" I sighed. "What am I going to do with you?"

Clumsy shuffled his feet some more and held his hands behind his back, obviously feeling ashamed. I heard a quiet grumble come from the lanky smurf, and remembered why I was looking for him. "Come on… I found something a lot smurfier to eat then these nasty things." I said, taking him by the elbow and leading him out of the mushroom patch.

I moaned internally at what just happened. I swear, without me he would've died a long time ago! And what did he mean, he wasn't sure what it was that Papa smurf said? I remember that day and he explicitly told us to never eat a toadstool. Smurf, he even had us repeat it back to him! I never understood that smurf…

We arrived at the wild smurfberry bush and the embarrassment that Clumsy had been feeling from me chewing him out evaporated. "Gawsh! Those've gotta be the smurfiest smurfburries in the whole forest!" Clumsy marveled, his eyes widening.

He gingerly picked one of the bright red berries from the plant, careful not to trip and fall into it. While it may not look like it, Smurfberry bushes have lots of thorns behind the berries. It's easy to smurf yourself on one if you're not careful. Eager to see if the berries tasted as smurfy as they looked, Clumsy popped one in his mouth and chewed it slowly. A wide smile across his face determined that verdict. We picked the berries until we had eaten our fill. The two of us sat back to back, letting the berries settle in our tummies before smurfing back to work. The two of us talked about idle things, Clumsy's newest rock in his collection, my newest books, just about everything. Then out of almost nowhere, Clumsy laughed his little southern drawl _hyu-hyu-hyu_. I craned my neck around to look at his face. It was flushed with a light red. "What's so funny?" I asked.

"Gawsh… I was jus' thinkin' about what happened yesterday with me an' Smurfette." Clumsy said, ducking his head some and scratching behind his ear.

I was intrigued. "Well, don't leave me smurfin' here!" I said out loud. "What happened?"

Clumsy laughed his little bumpkin laugh again, ducking his head a little more and blushing redder. "Well, I was walkin' an' Smurfette an' Baby were havin' a picnic… Well, I was walkin' past and tripped an' fell, an she came right over an' asked if I was orriat. I said 'yeah', and then she asked me ta join her, an' later she gave me a big, smurfy kiss for sittin' with her!" He reminisced, practically swooning.

There wasn't a smurf alive that loved Smurfette more than Clumsy. He was always smurfing her flowers, or offering to help with her chores (which she wisely declined often). He blushed whenever she smiled at him or touched his hand. He smiled whenever he heard her name. He was very much infatuated with her.

Of course, so was just about every other smurf in the village. Sometimes even PAPA seemed smitten with her! It was something I just could never wrap my mind around for the longest time. Sure, Smurfette is nice enough, and she's certainly pretty enough, but she keeps every male that tries to get close to her at arm's length. The only smurfs in the village she was really, genuinely close to were Baby, Sassette, and Vanity, and Papa, since she never took his advances seriously. The point being she's never really let anysmurf get too close to her, and marriage is flat-out out of the question. I'm just not sure why Clumsy's let himself be so enamored with her when he knows as well as I do that she has no intention of settling down anytime soon, and from what it seems little to no intention of letting herself fall in love. She's been more like that since Baby came and her and Hefty were an item for awhile. After they broke it off and split custody of Baby, she just seems like she's been guarding her heart. A sad truth for Clumsy as well as her, but a truth nonetheless. "Good for you, Clumsy." I said, elbowing him a little.

He giggled his little hick laugh again and hid his red face. "Hehehe. Thanks, Brainy." He said. "We shou' prob'ly get back to pickin' those roots now, huh?"

Then he stood up and dusted himself off, offering me a hand to pull me up. Already knowing what would've happened, I shake my head and pull myself up. Any other smurf might've taken offense to that, but Clumsy simply shrugged a shoulder and stumbled along on his merry way. I dusted myself off and followed him back to the bushes we were getting the Moddleroots from.

The two of us collected Moddleroots for another hour. I heard a little groan. Confused, I looked behind me. Clumsy was rubbing his stomach a little, a queasy look playing on his features. He groaned a little again. "Gawwsh, Brainy…" He said, "I dun' feel so good…"

I rolled my eyes a little. What trouble could he have gotten himself into in the hour I had my back turned to him? Well. Actually, a lot. That was what worried me, a little. But we had to finish smurfing these Moddleroots for Papa smurf, so I put my concerns aside. "Don't worry about it, Clumsy, I'm sure it's just a bad smurfberry." I dismissed him.

He nodded his head a little, and stopped rubbing his stomach. But it wasn't very long before he was moaning again, this time a little louder. I turned around again. Clumsy was looking even queasier than before, and pale too. Feeling some concern for my friend, I walked over to him. "B-Brainy… I- I _REALLY _don' feel good…" he said, shaking slightly.

I put a hand on his forehead. He felt feverish and slightly clammy. Something was wrong and we had to go back to the village. "Come on, Clumsy. We'll finish smurfing these Moddleroots another day." I said, bending over to pick up his basket.

He nodded a little bit, still clutching his tummy. The two of us walked for a little bit, until Clumsy stopped, still holding his abdomen, and fell to his knees. He rolled over on his side, his face twisted in pain. "Owwwww….." He moaned in a voice I couldn't even recognize as carefree Clumsy's "B-B-Brainyyy…."

I bent over to help the smurf, feeling terrible. "It'll be okay, Clumsy. Come on." I tried to encourage him.

He shook his head vigorously. "I- I- I can't… I can't walk anymore…" He moaned in pain.

I couldn't decide what to do. My first instinct was to run and get Papa smurf. But what if Gargamel came when I was gone? Clumsy couldn't get away! And he's too heavy for me to carry alone. I looked and saw some wild smurfberry bushes, and immediately had a plan. Trying not to drag him, I pulled Clumsy under the nearest bush. "There. That way you'll have some cover if Gargamel comes." I said, breathing heavily from the effort. "I'm gonna go smurf Papa smurf!"

Clumsy nods his head a little, still clutching his queasy stomach. I started running down the road, then stopped to look back at the long-limbed smurf. He was still huddled under the bush, shivering a little. I felt a giant knot in my gut for leaving him, but I had no other choice. I ran to the village as fast as my wimpy legs could carry me. I came to the mushroom house with a dark red roof and white spots. I started pounding on it like a smurf possessed. "Papa smurf! Papa Smurrrrf!" I called into the house.

The door opened, and the bearded elder smurf appeared in the doorway. "Brainy! What's wrong? Where's Clumsy?" he asked.

"S-something's wrong with him! H-h-he-! His stomach, He-!" I can't even complete a sentence.

"Please, slow down, Brainy! You're going to smurf yourself a heart attack!" Papa smurf said putting his hands on my shoulders. "Slow down and tell me what's wrong."

I managed to take a deep breath and tell him what happened to Clumsy. "Oh my smurfness!" Papa smurf exclaimed, running back into his lab and finding his medical bag "And you _LEFT_ him there!"

How did this all get switched on me? "I- I had no choice! He couldn't walk!" I explained myself.

Papa looked around unnerved for a minute, then shook his head and threw his hands up a bit, frustrated. "fine! Fine! If that's the case, go find Hefty, or somesmurf!" He said, taking random potions and ingredients and gently putting them in his bag.

I nodded my head and ran for the dam. If Hefty was anywhere, that's where he'd be! I ran as fast as my legs could carry me- just about headlong into the larger smurf. "Ow!" He shouted. "Watch where you're going, Clum- Brainy?"

"C'mon, Hefty! Papa smurf needs you right now!" I said, standing and pulling him up.

We sprinted for the lab where Papa smurf was waiting for us. Then the three of us ran down the road, searching for a certain sick smurf. It took a few minutes, but I finally found Clumsy. He was looking even paler and clammier then when I'd left him. " I found him, Papa smurf!" I called.

I put my hand on his sweaty forehead. My heart sunk into my chest a bit. The poor fellow was absosmurfly smurfing up! Papa smurf and Hefty came to the bush and gently took the sick smurf from underneath it. Clumsy was shivering like he was lying in snow instead of summer grass. "P-papa?" he said weakly.

"I'm right here, Clumsy." Papa smurf said, taking his little smurf's hand reassuringly. "Now, tell me, did you eat anything unsmurfy, or touch something you shouldn'tve?"

"He was about to eat a toadstool before I came and stopped him." I said, trying to be helpful. "He tripped and fell in the same patch of mushrooms before we left."

Papa smurf looked at me with wide eyes. "Brainy. I need you to show me exactly the toadstools you're talking about. _NOW_." He said, releasing Clumsy's hand and looking at me dead in the face.

I nodded and stood from my spot. I led Papa smurf to the mushroom patch I had found Clumsy in earlier. "Oh, No!" Papa smurf said, stooping over and picking one of the smaller mushrooms. "This is an _Opelian Daycab_- and its spores are one of the most deadly in the entire world!"

My heart dropped into my stomach. _D-DEADLY?_ I thought to myself. "B-but- There IS a cure, right?" I asked.

Papa smurf nodded. "Yes, but we must hurry and smurf him back to my lab. We don't have much time."

We return to where we left Clumsy and Hefty. Clumsy is stooped over a bush, Hefty holding him up. It took me a moment before I realized what was going on. "Ohhh, Heftyyy…. My tummy still-" he cut himself off, hurling his guts out behind the bush.

Hefty rubbed his back and said some words into his ear I couldn't hear. "Feel a little better now?" I asked, helping him up.

Clumsy shook his head. He looked to the side, his cheeks turning reddish. "It's nothing to feel embarrassed about, my little smurf." Papa said, trying to comfort the sick smurf. "But we must hurry back to my lab!"

Clumsy nodded weakly. He tried taking a few steps on his own, but ended up doubled-over in pain on the ground again. Hefty gently lifted the sick smurf from the ground, almost cradling him. He looked so small in comparison to Hefty's muscled physique. So- helpless. So weak. So vulnerable… As fast as the extra weight could allow us, we ran back to the village. Papa smurf opened the door for us, and immediately started flipping through his old books. "Gosh, Papa smurf. He sure doesn't look smurfy…." Hefty said worriedly, looking at the smurf in his arms.

"Yes, I know… tuck him into my bed, and go fetch some water." Papa said, still searching through his books.

Hefty laid Clumsy down on the bed and I tucked him under the sheets. Papa smurf has a thick quilt on his bed, but Clumsy was still shivering and shaking, his eyes half closed. It tore at my heart a bit to see him so ill... "Brainy, take his temperature for me." Papa ordered, mixing a few ingredients in a beaker.

I nodded my head and fished the thermometer out of Papa smurf's medical bag. Clumsy opened his mouth and held the thermometer under his tongue for a couple of minutes. I removed it and checked the mercury. "_Smurfs alive! 104.6_!" I read out to Papa smurf.

Papa smurf stirred more ingredients into his antidote. "Ohhh, smurf is me! Where is Hefty with that water!" he asked impatiently adding more ingredients.

As if he'd heard Papa smurf ask for him, Hefty burst through the door carrying a pail of water. "Here I am, Papa smurf!" he said.

"Good. Get some washcloths from the cupboard, and try and cool his fever." Papa smurf said, heating and filtering magic liquids and elixirs.

"Right!" Hefty said with a nod.

He went to a green cupboard and got some clean washcloths. He handed one to me. We dipped the cloths into the cold water and started to dab his forehead, trying to quell his fever. _Oh, Clumsy… why'd you have to go and trip in that stupid toadstool patch?_

"NO! Smurfity- smurf SMURFIT!" Papa smurf yelled, slamming a fist on the counter.

Both Hefty and I snapped our heads up. Papa smurf _NEVER_ swore like that! "What? What is it Papa Smurf?" I asked.

Papa smurf buried his head in his hands. "The potion needs to distill for another twenty-four hours." He said, "And even then I'm missing the final ingredient- a ground up opal."

My heart felt like it had just been knifed with a heated dagger. "What're you saying, Papa smurf?" Hefty asked.

Papa smurf walked to us, and covered up Clumsy's ears. "I'm saying," He spoke in hushed tones, "That if I don't smurf ground up opal by the time that potion is distilled, _Clumsy smurf will die_."


	2. ACT II

All was silent in the room except for the bubbling of potions and smurfs wandering around outside. _Clumsy…. Could die…_ The words were cemented into my brain. I couldn't imagine it… my friend in a- a- _casket_…. At a funeral… I could just see all the smurfs gathered… sobbing for a fallen family member…. The thought of it almost made me start to cry.

I shook the thought. "Where would we go to get an opal to grind, Papa smurf?" Hefty asked.

Papa smurf sighed slightly, uncovering Clumsy's ears and smoothing his hair. "In order to get the ground up opal, you must travel to the Cave of Wonder, deep underground." Papa smurf said, returning to his desk and writing a letter.

He folded it up and gave it to Hefty. "Give this to the gnome that lives there. I'm certain he will help. Now go!" he said.

Hefty nodded and ran out the door. I started to stand to follow him, but a clammy hand rested on mine. "Wait, Brainy." A weak southern drawl voice croaked.

I looked at Clumsy. His eyes were half-closed and bloodshot. His skin had lost nearly all of its blue hue. He looked like nothing but a ghost of my best friend, kept alive by smurf only knows what. "Can you- can you stay with me?" Clumsy half whispered. "I-I- I dun' wanna be alone…"

I nodded my head and sat back down. I felt his forehead. It felt like his fever had not smurfed much better, so I took my washcloth and continued to dab his face. Papa smurf left to go consult the books he kept upstairs, leaving me and Clumsy alone. "Brainy?" Clumsy asked.

"Yes?" I replied.

"This's gonna sound kinda silly, but…" He started, but was interrupted by a fit of dry coughing.

I gave him a cup with water, and he drank it all gratefully. "It's okay. What's your question?" I asked him.

"Well…" Clumsy seemed a bit hesitant. "Wha' do you think happens to us when we die?"

I cocked my head a bit, still processing the question. "I- I dunno, Clumsy," I admitted. "Some people believe that if you're good and believe in the Highest Power, then you'll go to Heaven…. And then if you were bad and didn't then you'd go to Hell… Least that's what Papa always said to us,"

Honestly, I don't believe in that stuff… I base my beliefs on fact and reason. Whatever faith in religion I ever had was smurfed out of me when I prayed for Mama smurf to be okay, and whatever entity lives in the clouds laughed in my face and let her die. I grew pretty bitter of religion after that… Much to my surprise, Clumsy shook his head. "Nuh-uh. I asked what_ YOU_ think." He said.

I tried to find a way to explain it delicately. Tact was never my strong point. "I think that… maybe there is a deity in the clouds, but he doesn't seem to listen to our small, smurfy plights." I said, trying hard not to dash his spirits.

Religion is a hard topic among the other smurfs. Tailor has beliefs way different from anyone else in the village and even celebrates different holidays sometimes, and Lazy has different beliefs from that and keeps them to himself (not sure what it is, though. it just has a lot of meditation and tolerance.). There aren't many smurfs that think like I do religion-wise. It's a topic we tend to avoid like the plague. "Hmm… I wouldn't say that," Clumsy said, tilting his head on the pillow, "I prayed once tha' I'd have a true friend, an' here you are."

My heart sunk. Even with all the other smurfs who hate me, or seem to, Clumsy has always been the one smurf that has always stood by me. That wasn't enough to convince me there was some kind of 'God', but it was reassuring. Clumsy yawned widely, half closing his eyes and pulling the thick quilts to his nose. "You should try to get some sleep, Clumsy." I said, placing a cool cloth on his forehead. "Hefty should be back by the time you smurf up."

He blinked in reply and nestled in the blankets. He closed his eyes, still shivering. _How could he be so cold when he's running such a high fever?_ Soon he ceased some of the shaking, and his breathing became more even and natural. Clumsy had fallen asleep. I closed the curtain on the window next to him, and patiently waited for someone to bring me some good news.

A creak of wood and heavy footsteps alerted me to Papa smurf descending the staircase to rejoin us. "How is he?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"He just fell asleep." I replied quietly, watching as the little smurf in bed twitched his ears in dreamy slumber.

Papa smurf sat next to me, and felt Clumsy's forehead. "His fever's still not improving…" He observed quietly, changing the washcloth on his brow.

"I know…and he's still shivering." I half whispered.

"It's from the fever…" Papa explained, watching Clumsy twitch and smoothing the sick smurf's hair back behind his larger-than-normal ears. "His body's trying so hard to fight the toxins it's lowered his ability to regulate his body temperature."

I felt terrible sitting here, watching my best friend waste away and look so miserable… This was all because he was so maladroit, so ham-fisted, so- so- _CLUMSY_! If he hadn't tripped in that mushroom patch in the first place then he wouldn't be in this situation! If he could be cured of his clumsiness, then nothing like this could happen again… But how? How on smurf could Clumsy be cured of his clumsiness? Then it occurred to me…

"Papa smurf?" I asked.

"Yes, Brainy?" he replied, not taking his eyes off Clumsy.

"Is there anything you might be able to do to make Clumsy less… well… _Clumsy_?" I asked, believing it sounded casual enough.

Papa smurf turned his head from Clumsy, and looked at me. His gaze made me feel like a hundred needles pierced my skin. Not quite knowing why, I cowered a little. _Why was he so mad at me? All I'd done was ask a simple question, and he looked so- so- mad. Furious even!_ "Brainy, that was _NOT_ a smurfy question to ask." He said calmly.

"I- I'm sorry, Papa smurf. But if Clumsy was less clumsy then he'd be able to do so much more!" I tried explaining myself, watching my voice so that I didn't wake Clumsy. "Plus, he wouldn't get hurt so much…"

"Brainy, it _can't_ be done." Papa smurf said plainly. "_No_ potion or spell in the world can cure Clumsy."

"But- what about that amulet I was reading about yesterday?" I questioned, raising my voice slightly, "or that spell from the far we-"

Papa smurf raised his voice and almost shouted, _"Brainy, I-"_ Papa smurf stopped himself, and hid his face with his hand for a moment, trying to compose himself.

He sat like that for a minute or two before he finally spoke. "Brainy, do you know _WHY_ Clumsy is the way he is?" He asked calmly.

I cocked my head a little bit, confused. I'd always thought that Clumsy was just- like that. Unable to find a reply, I shook my head. Papa smurf cast a glance at the sleeping smurf and covered his ears again gently. I'll never, _ever_ forget what he said next.

"_Clumsy smurf has a mental handicap, Brainy. As well as being partially deaf ever since he was smurfed._" Papa said in hushed tones, his voice almost to the point of breaking. "To cure his clumsiness I'd have to cure his condition and his deafness. _And those can never be reversed._"

I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Then it felt like I was gored through the chest with a javelin. It all made sense now… his loud voice… the fact it always took him a little longer to understand some things… How he hadn't understood when Papa took us all to the mushroom patch and told us never to eat the toadstools… it all made sense…. "How… How bad is it…?" I asked, my voice wobbling slightly.

Papa smurf took his eyes off me and watched Clumsy smile slightly and continue to twitch. "_Bad enough that Clumsy might not live to be three-hundred years old."_ He said, his eyes starting to water slightly. "But nothing's certain. Grandpa and I originally thought he wouldn't make it past his _150__th_ birthday, but here he is." He added with a slight smile.

That's when the javelin in my chest started digging around in there and the heart that dropped in my stomach started being digested. Clumsy was 193 years old…. Barely an adult in the human world… Yet he was originally thought to die _sooner?_? How could he die at such a young age… it just feels so wrong to hear about smurfs going before the prime of their lives… "Not all of it's bad, though," Papa smurf said, sighing slightly and removing his hands from the sleeping smurf's ears. "Have you ever seen Clumsy sad, or angry with anysmurf?"

Come to think of it, I have never once seen clumsy loose his temper. Not once! I shook my head. Papa smurf started to say something, but the lump in the bed stirred. Clumsy's eyes flickered open and he yawned slightly. "Good morning, sleepysmurf," Papa smurf said with a warm smile. "How are you feeling?"

Clumsy scrunched his face together and stuck out his tongue in wordless reply. Papa smurf chuckled a little. "I see…" He said, digging into his medical bag and fishing out his thermometer. "Let's see if that fever's improved any."

Clumsy held the glass thermometer under his tongue for a couple minutes. Papa smurf removed it and checked the mercury. "Hmm, 104.2…" Papa smurf said worriedly, "It's not much, but I suppose it's improving."

The sick smurf cracked a slight smile. That smile was ended when he sat up and started coughing as if he was in some sort of a toxic cloud. Papa smurf gave him a hanky and poured some water for when the fit was over. It did take a couple of minutes, but the coughing fit finally subsided. Clumsy shuddered a little, then immediately tensed up as soon as he looked at the hanky. "P-P-P-Papa smurf!" He said, sounding terrified.

I looked at the hanky. It was spotted with blood. My stomach churned a bit. I had to look away. I'm one of those smurfs that gets sick at the sight of blood. Whatever color that had returned to Clumsy's complexion disappeared as shock clouded over his eyes. The bedridden smurf trembled like an autumn leaf. Big, bubbly tears dribbled down his face. Papa smurf sat on the edge of the bed and took Clumsy in a protective, fatherly embrace. The younger smurf sobbed into his chest, still trembling. Papa smurf rocked him slightly, _shh_-ing him softly. "_Shh… shh_… It'll be all right, my little smurf…" Papa smurf said softly. "_It'll be all right_…"

I wasn't sure who he was trying to convince- Clumsy or himself. Whomever he was trying to convince, he wasn't smurfing a very good job. It didn't take long before Papa, too, was crying. Watching tears escape from Papa smurf's eyes and disappear into his white beard was enough to make my eyes water too. It was very, very rare that Papa smurf ever cried… I've only seen him cry at the recent funerals we had for Alchemist, Flier, and most recently, Dreamy…

Regardless of whom Papa smurf was trying to convince, it felt oddly wrong to watch such a scene. It felt like one of those things that one shouldn't watch, yet can't take your eyes off of… the simple spectacle of a father comforting his son. Trying so hard to calm his fears, while all the while trying to calm his own… I don't know how Papa smurf can do this for a hundred other smurfs with the same reassuring smile and affection he gives everysmurf who asks for it. It's a wonder he hasn't run out of love to give.

Still feeling awkward watching such a spectacle, I moved my glasses so I could wipe my eyes. I stood and faced Papa smurf and Clumsy on the bed. "I'm gonna go talk to Greedy about something to eat…. You feel up to some lunch, Clumsy?" I asked.

Clumsy cracked a slight smile and nodded a little, tears still streaming down his face. I'd never seen Clumsy cry so much in the entire time we've been friends… it made my gut hurt just thinking about it… I excused myself from Papa smurf's lab, and started silently walking towards Greedy's kitchen. Lazy was sleeping in his hammock, not a care in the world. Handy was happily working on some new invention. Poet was composing his latest "Ode to Spring". Harmony was torturing an animal_ (Oh, no don't worry, that's just a joke; Harmony wouldn't smurf a fly. It's just what it sounded like.)_ Painter was painting his latest "mastairpizza". It appeared as if everysmurf was blissfully unaware of Clumsy's sorry condition. They probably were. I haven't talked to anysmurf except for Hefty, Clumsy and Papa smurf all day. I finally reached Greedy's kitchen and knocked on the door. "Door's open" I heard from inside accompanied by the clang of metal and the clatter of dishes.

I turned the handle and let myself in. Walking into Greedy's kitchen on any given day is like walking into a wall of aromas. He always has some sort of good-smelling pastry or concoction brewing to attempt to quell his insatiable sweet tooth. Greedy was humming the Smurf's Song, happily stooped over his oven. He stood up and wiped his hands on the apron covering his plump tummy. "Hiya, Brainy! We were wondering where you were- Y'missed lunch!" he chuckled.

I tried to smile in reply, but to no avail. "Yeah… long morning…" I muttered.

Greedy's jolly smile faded and he tilted his head. "So- eh- what can I smurf for ya?" he said, returning to his mixing bowl on the island.

"I was wondering if you had any leftover soup or anything…" I said, watching the meticulous cook add ingredients to whatever was in the bowl. "Something good for an upset tummy."

Greedy snuck a look at his cookbook, added a cup's worth of flour and looked at me. "What do you mean? You don't look sick."

"It's not me who's sick." I replied hastily. "Clumsy is sick in bed and hasn't even been able to smurf a meal down."

Greedy raised his eyebrows a little. "So that's why the little bugger didn't come to lunch…" He mumbled, subconsciously reaching for a nearby cupcake. "Sorry, Brainy, I'm all out of soup. But if you come back in a little while I'll have some ready."

"Thanks, Greedy. I'll come back later then" I said, exiting the kitchen and closing the door behind me.

There wasn't a lot to do but wait. I found myself wandering the village, watching the others carry on with their day. Normally I'd offer my advice, which they always declined, but today, I can't even seem to smurf the words. My mind kept wandering back to Clumsy, and how scared he looked when I left. _There's still hope,_ I thought to myself,_ If Hefty can find an opal to crush for Papa smurf's remedy, Clumsy would be saved._

Then the little nagging voice in the back of my head shouted at me, _at least until he dies from that handicap Papa smurf was talking about_! If all my advice sounds that annoying little voice in my head, I'm not surprised I am kicked out of the village on almost a daily basis. Smurf, I would've kicked me out too. But like it or not, that little voice was right: If the toxins from the toadstools didn't kill him, his condition would. It was only a matter of time… Papa smurf said that he wouldn't live to see 300… Although he also said before that Clumsy wouldn't live to see 150, and here he was at 193. He's survived almost half a century longer than he was supposed to have. Clumsy is a resilient little fellow- I know he wouldn't take this beating lying down- err. That was a poor choice of words.

Soon my wandering found me at the village well. _They're probably going to need more water soon..._ I thought to myself, _I'll bring some back with me._ I turned the crank on the side of the well, finding it harder to turn than normal. When the bucket was in reach, I knew why. "Lazy smurf! Wake up!" I shouted at the blue lump sleeping in the bucket.

Sometime during the morning the sluggish smurf must've decided to hide out in here to escape his chores. His gentle snores abruptly ended and his big eyes fluttered open. Or, more like half open. "Wha?" he asked in his normal sluggish tone. "Oh hey Brainy. What's-"he yawned-"happening?"

I rolled my eyes. Lazy was such a lump! All he ever did was sleep while all the others did his share of the chores! Of course, when I called him on it, all the other smurfs would turn on me and kick me out of the village. "Get out, Lazy. I want some water." I grumbled impatiently.

He shrugged his shoulders and slumped out of the bucket, coming to rest on the ground beside the stone well. Dropping the bucket back into the well, I heard the splash. I turned the crank again to bring up more water, the load feeling much lighter now. A big part of me wanted to tell the indolent smurf off right there. It was harvest time, and he needed to do his share! But of course, before I can even open my mouth, Smurfette approached with her watering can and Baby on her arm. If I started rebuking the smurf then and there, she would've been on my back in an instant. "Hi, Brainy." She said pleasantly, "what're you doing?"

"Just getting some water. You need water for your watering can?" I replied.

She nodded. I offered her my bucket, but she shook her head. "Oh no, I can wait my turn. Go ahead and take a drink." She said.

"I need the bucket itself anyways. Go ahead." I replied.

She filled up her watering can and returned the bucket. Baby babbled something incoherent and played with her long blonde hair. I must've had some kind of desolate look on my face, because she looked at me like something was wrong. "Are you okay?" she asked.

I must admit, I was a little surprised. Was I really looking that forlorn? "I've had better days." I admitted, taking the ladle that was always secured to the well with a leather string.

I wiped the cup of the ladle with the corner of my hat and took a drink from the half-empty bucket of water. Then I lowered the bucket back into the well, waiting for the splash. Smurfette and Baby were still there. She tilted her head a little and sat on the edge of the well. Baby sat on her lap, babbling and grabbing everything that was in his tiny reach. "How so? What's the matter?" she asked.

I started turning the crank again. "Clumsy's sick…" I said with a weak voice I couldn't even recognize as my own, "_really_ sick…"

I had a lump in my throat that wouldn't let me say any more. "Ohh, poor Clumsy." She said sadly. "What's wrong with him? He looked just fine yesterday!"

I nodded, and updated her with the events of the morning. "…A-and Papa smurf said that if Hefty doesn't come back with the opal in time, then- then-" I couldn't even finish.

I suppose I didn't have to. Smurfette sat there through my updates with a shocked expression. Baby still babbled and sang a little to himself, but Smurfette almost looked to the point of tears. "Oh, my…." She said finally. "Here, we'll go with you to see him."

I nodded a little and took the bucket of water off the hook it was attached to in the well. Almost tripping over Lazy, Smurfette and I started walking back to Papa smurf's lab. I made a stop at Greedy's kitchen, finding him munching on another cookie. One of these days he's going to give himself diabetes or something, I swear! "Hey, Greedy" I said, looking through the window. "Did you make that soup you promised?"

The portly little smurf looked out his window, "Sure did!" he chuckled a little, a jolly little smile playing on his chubby cheeks. "Here, enough for three."

He handed me a small kettle through the window and three bowls. "Nothin's better for stomach problems than Greedy's famous vegetable soup!" he bragged a little, stuffing another cookie in his mouth and humming with pleasure.

Smurfette and I walked to Papa smurf's lab. I knocked lightly, just in case Clumsy was resting again. "Come in," I heard Papa smurf's voice call gently.

I was careful with the door, trying not to be too loud. I looked at the bed where Clumsy was resting. His eyes were closed and his chest was falling and rising slowly. Papa smurf was on the other side of the room, checking on his potions and antidotes, a tired look on his face. "We brought soup," I said quietly, "enough for the three of us, at least."

Papa smurf barely even looked up from his work. "Smurfette, you can have my share. I'll eat later." He muttered.

I put the kettle down on the table next to Clumsy. "You look exhausted, Papa smurf." Smurfette said to him, putting Baby down next to a couple of scattered toys he has in the lab. "You should rest."

Baby squealed a little in delight and started playing with the little building blocks. Papa smurf shook his head, and gave a wide yawn. "No, Smurfette. I have to watch the potion, and take care of Clumsy." He said, stirring the distilling potion.

His work is never done. It's amazing he ever has time for himself. "Papa smurf, you said yourself that the potion needed to distill." I reasoned, "and we can take care of Clumsy for a little while. You should get some rest."

Papa smurf knew when he was beat. "Well…. Perhaps a little smurfnap would do me some good." He said with a yawn and a stretch. "Call me if anything happens."

Papa smurf quietly creaked up the stairs to his bedroom. Originally, the bed in here was his spare bed. But since he'd been spending so much time in his lab, he eventually switched the roles of the two beds. Smurfette sat next to Clumsy on the opposite side of the bed. I took a seat next to the sleeping smurf and watched Baby play with his toys. The little smurfling was so happy and lighthearted… a welcome change from everyone else in the room.

The little smurfling stopped playing with his toys, and crawled around to where I was sitting. He sat down on his little bum and looked at me. He made little _mmf_ noises and waved his arms slightly, trying to reach for me. I reached down and picked up the squirmy smurf. He giggled a little and tried to reach for my glasses. "Ohhh, no." I said softly, "those are mine. You can't have those."

He pouted a little and kept reaching for my thick glasses. Thinking it would be a better idea to smurf the temptation, I took off my spectacles and placed them on the nightstand beside Clumsy. I couldn't see a smurfin' thing, but at least now I wouldn't have a sticky handprint on my convex lenses. Baby ignored the removal of the glasses and giggled loudly as he played with my ears and nose. With that grip of his, it isn't hard to believe he's Hefty's kid.

I made a face at him, and the little guy squealed and flapped his arms. He's so easy to please! I heard a rustle in the bed next to me. I put my glasses back on, holding Baby's hands so he couldn't try to grab them again, and everything comes into focus. Clumsy seems to be awake again. "Hey, buddy." I said, trying to sound less sad than I felt seeing him look so miserable. "Look who's here."

He looked to his right and saw Smurfette. He smiled a bit and tried to hide his nose under the quilts. "Hi, Smurfette." He said happily.

"Hi Clumsy" She replied with her sweet smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Lil' better now." He says, sitting up a little. "My tummy still hurts real bad. An' I still feel really cold…but I think I feel a lil' better now you're here."

I smiled a little. Clumsy was so simple, yet he was so honest. He knew what to say when smurfs were hurting. Baby bounced a little on my lap, reaching for Clumsy and making little baby noises. "Aw, someone wants to say hello," Smurfette cooed.

I handed Baby to her, who put him next to Clumsy. Clumsy smiled his Jack o' lantern smile and tried to lift the small smurfling. His strength wouldn't allow it. Baby crawled onto his chest, as if he could tell Clumsy was too weak to hold him up. "Hi, Baby" Clumsy said weakly, "how're you doin' t'day?"

Baby babbled and made a little gurbly noise. Clumsy laughed a little and continued his little back and forth conversation with the little smurfling. I looked at Smurfette. She had a smile. A REAL smile, not the half- smiles she'd been smiling before. She had a certain sparkle in her eyes as she watched the two converse. Clumsy was one of the few smurfs in the village that really truly connected with Baby and that Baby was honestly attached to. Had something to do with their mental ages- Clumsy is right up there with Baby and the smurflings. It's not a bad thing. Looking back on it now it probably has something to do with his condition. Suddenly, the baby talk quieted down to a murmur. A little confused by the sudden quiet, I looked back at the two sitting on the bed. Baby had his little hand on Clumsy's cheek, his little eyebrows furrowed in a worried expression and his normally smiling mouth a thin frown. "Aw, don' worry, Baby," Clumsy said with a weak smile, "When I go, I'll go som'where GOOD... An' I'll be able ta hear ev'rythin' there is t' hear."

Smurfette turned away from Clumsy and covered her mouth with her hand. Her lovely blue eyes looked red and glassy in the light. They quickly filled with tears that she quickly tried to blink or wipe away. "Please dun' cry for me, Smurfette," Clumsy said, placing his clammy hand on her clenched fist, "You're so much purtyer when you smile."

Smurfette looked at him and smiled a little, tears still fighting their way out and down her face. Clumsy reached up and wiped them away, still blushing a slight red, and giving her one of his famous Jack-o-lantern smiles. "See? Now you're much purtyer. Aint that right, Baby?" He said turning to Baby.

Baby gurgled in agreement. A grumble from Clumsy and my stomachs reminded us of the fact we hadn't eaten yet. "You feel up to some soup, Clumsy?" I asked, taking the kettle Greedy loaned us to the fire to heat it a little.

Clumsy gave a hearty nod. I let the soup heat up so that it wasn't too hot, then used the ladle that Greedy loaned us to spoon out two big bowls of soup. Clumsy sat up a little more so he could eat. Smurfette took Baby off his chest and cradled him in her arms. "Here," I said, bringing him his bowl, "Be careful, it's hot."

He nodded, then blew on the soup and ate a spoonful. We ate our soup and talked about idle things, smiling and laughing. I tried to look positive, but inside I was dying. Clumsy smurf's skin was a pale, pale blue, only a few shades away from being white. He had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes, even though he'd been resting almost all day. He looked like the smurf form of death itself. It killed me to see him look so desolate…

When he had finished his soup, he laid back, and nestled into the blankets. He wrapped his arms in them and shivered a little again. I went and put the rest of the soup in the remaining bowl, waiting for Papa smurf to wake up. Then I turned around and went to rejoin my friends.

Out of almost nowhere, Clumsy sat up again. He covered his mouth with his hand, and was looking around frantically, a wildish look in his eyes. Without a second thought, I took the kettle and brought it over to him, sitting on the bed and holding his head as he smurfed his cookies. He stopped for a minute, taking a few breaths and resting his forehead on the edge of the kettle. He quaked violently in the bed. It was only a minute or so before he was emptying his stomach again. I rubbed his back slightly, feeling the sweat drip down to the sheets. He was feeling this bad all this time, but he put on a brave face with us so we wouldn't worry… that made me feel awful.

When Clumsy had emptied his tummy so that there was nothing left but acids, he panted a little, resting his head against the edge of the kettle. I put the kettle next to the head of the bed, just in case he still needed to purge his belly of Greedy's soup. "Feel better now?" I asked, hoping that didn't sound nearly as stupid as I thought it did.

He shook his head no. His cheeks flushed with a deep red as he ducked his head and looked to the side, humiliated. "Hey… It's okay… It's nothing to feel bad about." I tried comforting him. "It's not like you had a choice."

Smurfette came to the other side of the bed and looped her arm around Clumsy reassuringly. "It's all right, Clumsy. You don't have to feel embarrassed." She said softly.

Clumsy held his abdomen and nodded a little. Smurfette and I eased him back into bed, and pulled up the covers. The frail smurf shivered and shook like he was in an ice box. My first instinct was to check his temperature. I fished the thermometer out of the medical bag, and slipped it under Clumsy's tongue. Even with my terrible sight, I could see the mercury rise. I waited a minute or two, then removed the thermometer. "104.8. He's not getting better." I said grimly.

Smurfette took some of the washcloths and soaked them in the cold bucket of water at her feet. He placed them on his forehead, and dabbed away the smurf's sweat. She had a sad, worried look on her face. I probably had a similar look. I felt so useless… Until we had the opal, there was nothing I could do to help him… I heard the creaking of wooden stairs and the heavy footsteps of our own Papa smurf. He rounded the corner and saw the two of us fussing over Clumsy. He approached us, worry and concern evident in every wrinkle and crease in his tired face. "How is he?" he asked plainly.

"Not doing much better," I replied weakly. "His fever's back and he couldn't keep down the soup."

Papa smurf winced a bit, and put his hand on Clumsy's forehead. He closed his eyes and gave a little sigh. He must've been thinking exactly what I was: _PLEASE let Hefty come back soon._


	3. ACT III

I should've cleared this up way before:

The thing about Dreamy, Alchemist, and Fly being dead is reference to my other Fanfic, "Dreamer".

Sorry for the confusion ^^;

And By the way, "Will I lose my Dignity" is from "_Will I_?" from RENT. look it up. sad song! T_T

* * *

><p>We were mostly quiet the rest of the day. Clumsy was too shaky and exhausted to talk, and Smurfette and I really had nothing to talk about. Papa smurf went back to work smurfing his potions. Smurfette was holding Baby on her lap and cooling Clumsy's forehead with a wet washcloth. Clumsy laid in the bed and tried to rest. I watched the door. Waiting, hoping, that Hefty would burst through that door and come with the solutions to our unsmurfy problems. The light outside faded to a dark twilight. Baby was getting fussy, and made loud baby noises at Smurfette crossing his arms and pouting. Smurfette bounced him on her knees a little. "I know… I know… but with Hefty gone, I can't just leave you at home." She cooed to the child, sounding as tired as she looked.<p>

"Why don't you go home and put Baby to bed," Papa smurf said, leaving the potions tables and joining us next to Clumsy. "We can smurf it from here."

I get the feeling she would've protested had she not had Baby to think about. She stood slowly, barely taking her eyes off Clumsy. Clumsy smiled a little and squeezed her hand. Smurfette bent down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed as much as his condition would allow him to. "Gosh…. Smurfette?" Clumsy said, sill glowing from her kiss. "K'ai ask you for a favor?"

She nodded. "Smurf it and it's half done." She said, her voice cracking slightly.

"Kin I kiss you on the cheek? Would that be alright?" He asked weakly. "Papa smurf says I'm not Contaageruous, so you wouldn't get sick."

"You mean contagious." I elbowed him lightly.

"Yeah, that." Clumsy said, a little embarrassed.

Smurfette smiled a little and wiped her eyes. "I think that'd be just smurfy, Clumsy."

She bent down again so that he wouldn't have to sit up so far. He sat up as best as he could and lightly kissed her on her cheek. She looked at him and smiled, tears falling over her bottom lashes. He smiled in return, and let go of her soft hand. "Thanks, Smurfette." Clumsy said, giving her as big a smile as he could manage.

She nodded in reply, and then took Baby from my arms. She gave me a warm hug, and cried on my shoulders for a moment. She sounded lost and sad, like I've never heard before. She ended the hug, and wiped her tears away from her eyes. Papa smurf gave her a warm, fatherly hug, patting her on the back and whispering encouraging words in her ear. She broke the hug and listened to his words. Papa smurf gave her a caring kiss on her forehead, then sent her on her way.

Smurfette and Baby left for home, leaving Papa and I alone to care for Clumsy. It wasn't long after she left that the rain started. We stayed with him another few hours. Papa smurf yawned again, and checked the grandfather clock in the corner. "It's late, Brainy. You should go home and smurf some rest." Papa smurf said, stretching his back.

I shook my head. "If it's all the same to you, Papa smurf, I'd really like to stay," I replied, changing the wet washcloth on the sleeping smurf's forehead.

Papa smurf sighed a little bit, and approached us. "Brainy," He said softly, "There's nothing we can do until Hefty gets back with the opal. And even with the opal, the potion still needs to distill for another 8 hours. Please, get some sleep."

I firmly shook my head. "I don't wanna leave him alone," I insisted, "You know as well as I do he'd do the same for me."

Papa smurf sighed again and rubbed his eyebrows with his thumb and forefinger. I could already hear his thoughts: _That Brainy is so blasted stubborn sometimes!_"Fine, then. If you're going to be up, you probably ought to get yourself a clean pair of slacks."

I looked down at my white pants. There were dried mud stains around the heels. Soup stains on my thighs. Grass stains on my knees. Random splotches of colored stains from helping Papa smurf mix potions. _Why do smurfs all wear white_, I asked myself mentally, _It stains so smurfin' easily_! Perhaps a clean pair of pants would do me good. "Okay," I said, standing from my seat. "I'll smurf Clumsy some clean clothes while I'm out."

I left the lab and went back to my house. I changed my pants and washed my face. It wasn't exactly a full bath, but it was enough to wash away some of the impurities of the day. I held the warm washcloth over my eyes, wishing I could just fall asleep right there. My eyes felt like they had sandbags weighing them down. Between Clumsy waking me up early, and staying up late tonight, I felt like I was going to fall asleep on the walk to Clumsy's house. I opened his door, careful not to run it into anything. He kept a candle right next to the door. I lit the wick, and used the light to look around.

Clumsy kept his home very clean. As in, my moderately tidy little apartment looked hopelessly disheveled in comparison. Every one of his hundreds of rocks had a place, and every unopened book was neatly on the shelves. All the books except for a well-worn book that sat next to his nightstand. It had a red leather binding and yellowing pages. It was a book of scripture. I examined the book, turning it over in my hands. I'm not sure where mine was. I just remember losing it in some form of angry catharsis many years ago. I put the book back on the nightstand. Then I walked to Clumsy's dresser to get a change of clothes for when he wakes up.

_If he wakes up._ I shook that thought out of my head. _No. He WILL wake up._ I told myself. _Clumsy Smurf WILL survive this! Won't he?_

On top of Clumsy's dresser he had a little religious emblem. Some form of saint or something. Maybe this was trying to tell me something…

Then, at that moment I did something I haven't done in years. I bent down on my knees and prayed. _"God? Or whoever's up there…_

_"There's a smurf down here that really needs help. He's my best friend._

_"If there's anysmurf down here who needs you right now, it'd be him._

_"I know we haven't talked in a really long time… But I'm begging you._

_"Please save Clumsy Smurf." _I whispered to the entity that I had shut myself off from.

I don't think anyone could hear me. But it was reassuring to ask.

The rain started pouring when I left Clumsy's house. I walked back to the lab, trying to be quiet so I didn't wake anysmurf up. I let myself back into Papa smurf's lab, quietly, of course. I put the change of clothes on the nightstand next to Clumsy and took my seat. I rested my elbows on the bed, holding my head in my hands. After a few minutes, I felt Papa smurf drape some sort of fleece blanket over my shoulders. I huddled under the soft, warm fabric, pulling it around me and resting my head on my elbow. I fought sleep like a knight fights a dragon. The sandman himself couldn't get me to sleep. About five or ten minutes later I felt my thick glasses being lifted off my face, and heard the light clatter they made when placed on the nightstand. I tried mumbling some protests, but they were unheard. Papa smurf smoothed my hair back behind my ear, and gave me a goodnight kiss on the temple. "Goodnight my little apprentice." He whispered, pulling up the blanket so it covered my arms. "Pleasant dreams."

I couldn't fight sleep anymore. I fell asleep with my head on my elbows and my elbows resting on the bed next to Clumsy.

A short while later, I was jolted awake by a loud _BANG_! I jumped nearly three apples out of my seat, then looked around frantically looking for the source of the noise. There was a larger-set, soaking wet smurf waving his arms and talking to Papa smurf loudly. Hefty was back! Overjoyed, I looked at Clumsy. He was asleep still. Dear smurfness, he's a heavy sleeper. "Clumsy! Clumsy wake up!" I said shaking him.

He groggily opened his eyes and made a mmph? noise. "Hefty's back" I said to him.

He smiled a little, still tired, and looked where the larger smurf stood.

"Miner managed to grind it to a dust. I took the biggest one he let me," Hefty continued, handing Papa smurf a little velvet pouch. "Will it be enough?"

Papa smurf examined the little pouch he held in his hand "Yes. That will be more than enough, Hefty." Papa smurf said smiling. "And not a moment too soon! The potion is almost ready."

He took the liquid that had been distilled and mixed in the contents of the pouch. The dust dissolved itself with a rainbow of colors. "The potion is complete!" Papa smurf announced, sounding beyond relieved. "Good job, Hefty! You've just saved Clumsy's life."

Hefty looked at the ground, looking a little bit proud of himself. "But Papa smurf! How will Clumsy take the medicine?" I asked, "He can't keep anything down, medicine or otherwise!"

"I know, Brainy." He said, digging through his medical bag. "The remedy will have to be smurfed through his veins."

Clumsy shuddered a little. Papa smurf removed a shiny object from his medical bag. A syringe. He filled the barrel with the rainbow potion and walked towards Clumsy and I. Clumsy was shaking a little- nosmurf likes shots. That's a given. I took his hand for support. He smiled weakly, and turned his head from Papa smurf and the needle. Papa smurf swabbed the spot with rubbing alcohol, and then carefully pierced the crook of Clumsy's elbow with the needle. I felt Clumsy squeeze my hand a little and saw him grit his teeth as the potion was injected into his veins. Then, as quickly as it was in, it was over. Papa Smurf rubbed the spot with alcohol and put a little square of gauze over the little needle prick. "There we go. You'll be feeling all better by the end of the day." He said, smiling and putting the needle and syringe in a disinfectant solution.

Clumsy smiled as wide as the moon. "Y'mean- I'm gon' be okay?" He said happily.

Papa smurf nodded. "It'll take a couple of hours for the toxins from the toadstools to completely run themselves out of your system, but yes. You should be feeling like your normal self in a couple of hours." He said.

Clumsy smiled in relief. That relief was soon cut off by a fit of dry coughing. Throughout the day, Papa smurf and I helped him stand, and walk, and among other things. His terrible fever had mostly cooled. He could finally eat lunch without throwing it all back up. He still tired himself out easily, but that was easier to fix.

Papa smurf had gone upstairs to rest, and Hefty returned to his home to sleep off his all- night trip. Clumsy was lying on the bed, and I was dusting some of the knickknacks that decorated the walls. That was the day I will never forget. "Brainy?" Clumsy said.

The weak tone in his voice caught me off guard. "Yeah, Clumsy?" I replied.

He was looking out the window, a dreamy look outlining his features. "_Will I loose my dignity?" _He asked.

Confused, I answered. "What do you mean by that?" I asked, perplexed.

"Just what I said," he replied, "_Will I lose my dignity?"_

I still didn't understand… "When this condition takes me… _will I lose my dignity_?" He asked.

My heart nearly stopped. "What're you talking about Clumsy?" I asked, avoiding eye contact. "That's a silly question… what're you talking about, _'condition'_?"

"Brainy." He said, not sounding fooled by my answer. "I KNOW."

My heart sunk. "I know I was never sposed to live past 150. I overheard Papa Smurf an' Gram'pa talkin' about it not long 'go." He said. "And I jus' wanna know, when this thing takes my life, _will I lose my dignity_?"

I couldn't even begin to answer. My voice felt stuck in my throat. No matter how much I blinked, no matter how many deep breaths I took, tears escaped my eyes and fell down my face. So he knew all this time he was doomed to die… I tried to think of what to say to him. But the words in my head turned to mush in my mouth. "I- I-" I couldn't even speak.

"Brainy… Why won't you look at me?" Clumsy said, sounding sad and weak.

I turned around to look at him. "I'm not afraid of dying, Brainy." He said. "I've lived m' life happy an' without a single regret."

I shook my head disbelievingly. "No, Clumsy…. You shouldn't say that…. Y-You're_ NOT_ gonna die…" I said, my voice wobbly. "Don't say you're not afraid of dying… You're _NOT…."_

"Brainy…" Clumsy said, "there's nothin' anysmurf can do fo' me. Tha's okay."

_"How can you lay there and say its okay?"_ I half- yelled at him, "You're not even _200 years old_, and yet you have to think about _death!_ About _what smurfs are gonna think about you_ when you're gone! It-_ it just isn't right…"_

I broke down next to the bed. I couldn't stand the thought of losing my best friend… "Brainy…" he said, "it's just the way it is. But I don't mind."

He paused for a moment, sliding off the bed and joining me on the ground. "I've seen things I'll never, ever forget. I've smiled more times than I could ever count. I've laughed more times than I think's a number." He said softly, "and I've met so many people that've changed me fo' th' better… _YOU'VE_ changed me fo' th' better, Brainy."

I tried my hardest to stop crying. I couldn't. "Brainy, d'you remember when you lost yo' glasses to th' Dark-ness monsta', an' needed someun' ta' help you with stuff?" he lamented, "An' remember th' quotation you gave me tha' day?"

I nodded, still trying to get a grip. "_'It is easy to pretend we are strong. It is much harder to pretend we are weak. A true friend, by loving every part of us, teaches us to love our weaknesses.'"_ I said, my voice cracking a little. "How could I forget?"

Clumsy smiled and wrapped me in a big, awkward hug. "You're my best friend. An' you've loved every part of me. Even trusted me 'nuff to smurf me your emergency spare glasses" He said, "Tha's why I'm not scared t' die. Cause you've been my friend, and cause you've made me love who I am. I dun' mind bein' clumsy. And I know you dun' like to see me hurt myself sometimes. But tha's who I am."

I lifted my glasses so I could wipe my eyes. "I'm proud of who I am," he said, "Bu' not everyone is."

I swallowed hard. "Tha's why I'm asking: _Will I lose my dignity?" _He asked.

I tried to find an answer. "Clumsy…" I said, "I-I know it..._ You won't lose your dignity…"_

I wiped my eyes and drew a breath, "_Everysmurf here would care._ A-and if someone thought down on you, "I said, gaining my strength, "I'd kick their smurf."

Clumsy squeezed me a little. "I'm glad t' know."

That's when Harmony barreled into the room at his top speed, blowing his horn as loud as he could. _"Wh-wh- where's Papa smurf?" _he panted.

"Upstairs. Wha-" I said.

He didn't let me finish. Harmony sped up the stairs, "playing" his horn the whole way up. It was quiet for a moment, then the sounds of two sets of heavy footsteps and squealing of stairs filled the room. "Harmony, Tell Handy to get to high ground! Tell everyone to get to higher ground!" Papa smurf ordered.

Harmony nodded his head and ran out the door. "What's going on Papa smurf?" Clumsy asked.

Papa smurf was taking books and potions ingredients by the armloads and forcing them into his bag. "The storm has turned into a typhoon! We have to evacuate the village before the dam bursts!" Papa smurf said, not stopping for an instant. "Brainy, get Clumsy out of the village. _The dam could break any minute!"_

I nodded and grabbed Clumsy by the arm. The two of us joined the swarm of fleeing smurfs. All of the sudden, Clumsy broke free from my grip. I stopped and looked back at him through the rain and chaos. "I forgot somethin'! I'll be right back." He said, running back towards the village.

I tried to grab him again, but I was swept up in a wave of scared fleeing smurfs. I tried breaking away from them all the way up the mountain. They wouldn't let me until we had all reached the caves. Scaredy and Weepy were huddled in the back, crying and whimpering all over themselves. Countless others were cowering in fear. _I had no time for fear_! I ran to the mouth of the cave where Hefty and Tracker stood watch. "Brainy! Where are you going!" He shouted over the thunder and rain.

"Clumsy and I got separated in the village!" I shouted back, _"I have to go back!"_

Hefty and Tracker tried to hold me back. "You _can'_t! You'll get swept away!" Tracker said, "We'll have to find him after the storm's passed!"

"It'll be too late!" I said loudly, struggling to get free. "Let me go!"

Hefty shook his head firmly. "_NO_!" he said.

"_**LET ME GO**_!" I shouted elbowing him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Hefty released his grip and fell to the ground. I took advantage of this moment and ran into the downpour, desperately calling Clumsy's name. I crossed the bridge on the way back to the village, where I could already see the dam about to burst. "**_CLUMSYYY!_**" I called, "_**WHERE ARE YOU?"**_

Then I saw him running towards me. He had a little parcel clutched close to his chest. "Here I am, Brainy!"

I ran to meet him at the other side of the bridge. Thunder crashed and lightning lit the whole forest. "C'mon! All the others are in a cave up the mountain!" I hollered.

We started to run across the bridge. The most heart stopping moment of my life was upon me. With a single, loud CRACK, the dam finally gave away, releasing a tidal wave. Trapped on the bridge, Clumsy grabbed onto my hand and held on for dear life.

As we were plunged into the watery abyss, something heavy hit my forehead. I could feel Clumsy's grip getting weaker and weaker…_ No wait. It was my grip getting weaker…. _

'_Have you ever had a friend that you're not really sure why you stay friends with?_

_And then one day you find out,_

_But by then it's too late?' _

_Maybe someone will say it about me,_ I thought. _Maybe to someone, I was that friend…_

My entire world was plunged into darkness.

I awoke spitting and sputtering water. A hundred plus smurfs were crowded around me, Tracker was stooped over me, his hands on my chest. The storm was cleared up now… the sun was bright. "Where… Where's Clumsy?" I weakly asked.

Tracker looked at Papa smurf in the crowd. "We still haven't found him, Brainy." He said, sadly, "We have a group looking for him as we speak."

I felt scared, terrified even. I forced myself up, feeling the gash on my forehead. I cried for him at the top of my voice. **_"CLUMSYYYY! CLUMSYYYY?"_ **I shouted, running across the makeshift bridge, all along the river.

Papa smurf and Hefty were running after me, but I paid no attention to them. I just kept shouting and calling for my best friend. "**_CLUMSYYY! WHERE ARE YOU!_**" I shouted.

Soon I ran towards Handy's water wheel. I was starting to run out of breath, so I had to stop so I could breathe. I wheezed a little when I breathed, probably because I'm not used to so much running. Hefty and Papa finally caught up to me, breathing heavily but not panting. "Brainy, calm down!" Hefty said. "You're gonna smurf yourself sick!"

I didn't care. I wanted to keep looking for Clumsy. Nearby, Handy and a crew of smurfs were working on something that was clogging the waterwheel. Even through my panic I could hear them work. "Orright, smurfs! _**HEAAAAVE! HEAAAVE! HEEE**_-" Handy ordered the smurfs pulling the wheel, but stopped suddenly_ "Oh dear God…"_ he half whispered.

The smurfs working around the wheel talked amongst themselves in scared, quiet tones. "Papa smurf, you're gonna wanna take a look at this…" Handy said, looking as white as his overalls.

I wondered what could've gotten stuck. I followed Papa smurf, pushing my way through the congested crowd. What on smurf was so interesting? Then my heart sunk. Papa smurf turned from his place, looking as white as a sheet. "_NO_, Brainy, You don't want to see this…" he said firmly.

I had to. _No, it couldn't be! Could it_? "I _HAVE _to see, Papa," I said, ducking his grasp and fighting my way through the crowd.

He was right. I didn't want to see it.

_In the center of the crowd laid Clumsy smurf, his hands still clutching that package and his head bent at a sickening angle._

I dropped to my knees next to him. Clumsy couldn't be dead. He just couldn't… Tears bubbled from my eyes. "_C-c-c- Clumsy…"_ I stuttered.

I put my hand on his soaked chest. It was icy cold to the touch. I felt nothing even close to a heartbeat, or a breath, or anything. I looked at his face. His eyes were clouded over, his face frozen in a look of shock more than anything else. Papa smurf kneeled down next to me, tears falling from his face and put his hand on top of mine. He used his other hand to close the fallen smurf's eyelids and mouth. The action in and of itself made me sob.

_Clumsy _CAN'T _be gone…. He_ CAN'T _be_…

Papa smurf gently pried the object out of Clumsy's hands. iWhat was so important to Clumsy that it cost him his life?/i Papa smurf opened the little box. Inside there was a pair of spectacles, thick and dark rimmed. My mouth gaped like a landed fish. My spare glasses…. _Clumsy had returned to the village to get my spare glasses…_

I broke down right there. And no amount of Papa smurf's_ shh_-ing and rocking could help soothe my wailing.

_My best friend died so I would be able to see._


	4. ACT IV FINALE

The song(s) are "Will I?" from RENT and "Life support", also from RENT. :D

* * *

><p>The rest of the day passed like a whirl. All of the village's usual repairs and activity reduced itself to a murmur. Papa smurf was trying to offer counsel for the smurfs that had been there when we found him. Among them, Hefty was the most shaken up. He seemed to need Papa smurf's help most of all. I didn't want his help… I didn't want anysmurf's help… Without my best friend, I felt lost in the world. Like a lingering soul without a purpose. Like a stick figure in the paintings of Monet or Picasso.<p>

A day or two had passed since that terrible day, and I finally felt ready to go through some of the things in Clumsy's house. I asked Smurfette to help me. I couldn't do it by myself… It felt so _wrong_ to be in there, in such an unsmurfy situation… I felt like a grave robber packing away all of Clumsy's beloved rocks… I haven't felt so terrible since I had to help Papa smurf pack up Alchemist's house.

Every little thing in that room reminded me of Clumsy. The unopened books on the shelves… the shrinking in size rock collection on the shelves… the meticulously made bed… the worn out book of scriptures sitting on the nightstand…. I picked it up, fingering the cross on the cover.

A large part of me wanted to throw the book into the fire. "Where were you…?" I said aloud.

Smurfette turned to me, confused. "Where _WERE_ you? Where were you when he _NEEDED_ you!" I shouted, feeling angry and heartbroken all at the same time. "If you're so great and powerful, _WHY COULDN'T YOU SAVE CLUMSY?_"

I fell to my knees next to the bed, hot, angry tears forcing themselves out in sobs. Smurfette kneeled down next to me and pried the book out of my hands. She set it down on the bed and wrapped me in a warm, motherly embrace. I continued blubbering on her shoulders. Clumsy was my best friend… and yet… yet 'God' let him die so- so- i_HORRIBLY…_./i "Brainy," Smurfette said softly, weeping quietly. "We're worried about you… Hefty, Handy and I… We think it'd be good for you if you spoke to Papa smurf…"

I shook my head lightly. "I- I- I don't want to…" I whimpered. "I wanna be alone…"

"I don't buy that. Otherwise you wouldn't be going to the funeral tomorrow." Smurfette said plainly.

I nodded my head a little, then numbly rose to my feet and tried to manage through the rest of the afternoon. Then I went home, carrying my little mementos of Clumsy with me- his favorite rock- a piece of the meteor that nearly obliterated him years and years ago- his lucky winter scarf, and a framed piece of paper that hung on the wall that contained his favorite quote of mine. _'It is easy to pretend we are strong. It is much harder to admit we are weak. A true friend, by loving every part of us, teaches us to love our weaknesses.'_

I unlocked the door to my little mushroom bungalow, left my mementos on the counter, and went straight to my study. I tried to write a eulogy. But everything I wrote came out more like scribbles. I felt hopelessly depressed and grief-stricken. It felt as though the sun would never rise again… Like all the good in the world was gone, and it was never gonna smurf again.

_It felt like there was only one way to end this nightmare that had become my reality._

I scrawled something resembling a note on a piece of paper, and folded it gingerly. I placed it on the kitchen table. Then I walked to the door, turned my key and locked it so no one could interrupt me. I walked to the kitchen section of my little apartment, and opened up a drawer that I used for storing the items I use when I rarely cook for myself. I selected a long, sharp chef's knife from the mess, and shut the drawer. Life just wasn't worth living without Clumsy beside me… a klutz or not, he was my best friend. I didn't realize what I'd had until it was gone. I had realized that I could never live without my best friend, my bosom buddy, my ROCK.

I placed the knife across my left wrist, tears rolling down my cheeks as I thought of our final conversation. _'Will I loose my dignity?' Of course not. How could I lose what I never had?_

I tilted my head back and closed my eyes as I smurfed my final goodbyes to the world.

I cut along my flesh with the sharp knife, trying to make it deep. Just as I began to cut, there was a knocking on the door. _Smurf 'em,_ I thought. _There's nothing they can do with the door locked._

I finished cutting the wound, and sat, my back resting on the table leg. Blood rushed from my wound at an alarming rate. _I'll probably be dead in another five minutes or so,_ I thought.

"_Brainy_" I heard a familiar southern drawl call.

"_C-Clumsy_?" I said weakly.

Just at that moment, somesmurf kicked my door in. In what looked more like a big blue blur, somesmurf rushed towards me and ripped the sharp knife out of my hands. It was Hefty. He had a shocked, hurt look on his face. _"What in smurf's name were you thinking, Brainy?" _he asked, half yelling into my face.

Smurfette was standing behind him, more white than blue. "Hefty, not now! He's- he's losing blood fast…" She said, trying to remain calm and fight tears. "We have to get him to Papa smurf. _NOW_."

Hefty nodded, and I tried to shake my head vigorously. "I- I don't _WANNA_ get better… L-let me die…" I muttered.

"Not a chance." Hefty said, lifting me up.

He practically cradled me. I kicked a bit, trying in vain to escape. Hefty tucked my legs underneath his colossal arms and kept running for the lab. Smurfette was already there, trying tearfully to explain to Papa smurf. I felt only half-conscious when Papa smurf ushered us in and cleared off a table. Hefty laid me down on it, and then secured my ankles with leather bindings so I couldn't fight anymore. Nevertheless, I fought as hard as I could.

_I want to die. I WANT to die! LET me die!_ My mind screamed, but my mouth wouldn't obey. I fought and fought, until suddenly, my head felt like it weighed a hundred pounds. It wasn't one of Papa smurf's potions. It was probably from losing so much blood. Thinking it would finally be curtains for me, I closed my eyes, relaxed my expressions, and smiled slightly. "_Clumsy… I-I'll see you soon._

My world slipped into darkness.

There was a white light directly ahead of me. I started walking towards it, hoping I would find Clumsy, or maybe Alchemist Smurf or Flying smurf. "_Brainy…_" I heard the voice of my friend.

"_C-Clumsy…"_ I replied, overjoyed.

He appeared before me, looking as strong and smurfy as he did before he got sick. He was wearing his favorite baggy white slacks, too- big shoes and hat that, even in afterlife, hung in his face almost covering his eyes. The only difference from the Clumsy before me and the Clumsy in my memory was the pair of silvery white wings that sprouted from his back, just behind his shoulder blades. My heart dropped into my stomach, and tears welled up behind my eyes, threatening to fall. I rushed towards him, letting him wrap me in his arms. "Brainy." He said softly, "Y'know you can't stay here."

"Why not…" I said, breathing in his scent, "Nosmurf down there ever appreciated me… I can't live without my best friend by my side."

"That's not true." Clumsy reasoned, "Very soon, a lot of smurfs are gon' need you, Brainy. And they won' be able t' live withou' you."

He broke the hug, and stared at me in the eyes. "You have to go back." He said.

"But… Why'd you have to die…" I said, selfishly not wanting to leave. "The way you died…. It was so terrible…."

Clumsy smiled widely. "Brainy… I didn't even know." He said, "jus' before I was crushed, I saw a light, an' next I knew I was here. He made it so I didn' feel nothin'! but now, they won' let me into that light withou' you acceptin' it."

Now I understood. This is Limbo. Clumsy was a spirit, and couldn't cross over to Paradise until I absolved him. Tears I had been holding back spilled over my eyes. Goodbye truly is the saddest word. "Everything sounds so 'mazin Brainy…" Clumsy smiled as wide as the moon, "I never knew th' world was so fulla sounds…"

He released me from the hug, and started to drift away. "He told me to deliver a message to you, Brainy." Clumsy said, his voice too fading. "He said, _'I was in the cave with Scaredy and Weepy, easing their fears and comforting their sadness. I was with the village, protecting it from destruction so you'd have a place to sleep. I was with Clumsy and the Angel of Mercy when he was swept into the water wheel. And I was with you, even if you didn't want me there.'"_

I couldn't believe it…. "C-Clumsy wait!" I shouted, running towards his fading figure.

"Bye, Brainy." He said, waving happily, "Tell Smurfette I said 'Hi'!"

I came to in a familiar sounding place. Everything looked like fuzz. I groped around, looking for my glasses. I finally felt the cold metal frames, but they were in somesmurf's hand. "H-hello?" I croaked.

My voice sounded hoarse. Like I hadn't used it in a year. Suddenly, the hand holding my glasses moved. The blue blob attached to my glasses shifted, and unfolded my hand from the frames. It gingerly unfolded the frames, and put them over my ears on my face. I felt a lot less blind now. The blue blob holding my glasses and sitting at my bedside was none other than Papa smurf. His eyes were sad and deep. "Welcome back." He said feigning a smile.

_How was it possible? How did I survive?_ "You scared us, Brainy." He said, his voice breaking slightly. "We thought we were going to lose you…"

His voice was even, but his eyes told the story. He was falling apart inside… I looked down, bringing my knees to my chest and hugging my legs. I felt so guilty for making him worry so much… "Brainy… You're not in trouble," He said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

I looked at him. He was blinking back tears, trying to keep his voice even, "b-but I need to know exactly what's in your heart right now." He said, looking at me with his worried, sad eyes. "What was going through your head, Brainy?"

"I- I felt _alone_, Papa." I said, trying to keep my voice from cracking. "I felt _angry_…. _Sad_… _helpless_… I felt like death was the only way to see Clumsy again…" I cringed a little, thinking of what almost happened.

"H-he was my best friend…" I said weakly, "I-I-I- miss him so much…"

Papa smurf nodded a little, and rubbed my back. "I- I saw him, Papa." I said, shakily. "He was there, on the other side…"

Papa smurf seemed surprised. "H-he was stuck in Limbo, and he said he needed me to let him go before he could go to Paradise…." I said, tears bubbling out of my eyes. "S-so I did…"

I drew a few jagged breaths before I spoke again, "I miss him, Papa. _I miss him so much._" I said weakly.

He pulled me into a warm, protective embrace, and rocked slowly as I cried on his shoulder. He had to do this with a hundred other smurfs…. It's amazing he hasn't run out of tears to cry yet. He _shh_-ed me a little and continued to rub my back as I sobbed. "_Shh… Shh_… I know…. It's hard right now…. Everyone's having trouble coping with Clumsy's death." He said in a low voice. "If it makes you feel any better, he didn't die by drowning. Or by the waterwheel."

I sniffled a little like a smurfling and looked at him, confused. "I smurfed a spell over his body so I would know for sure what killed him." He said, "Clumsy didn't die from either the waterwheel or the water. He died from a sudden cardiac arrest. It's fairly common with smurfs that have his condition. He didn't even feel a thing."

I let that sink in. Clumsy _HAD_ been killed by his condition. And in a way so that he didn't feel any pain… that made me feel relieved… I thanked Papa smurf for all his help, then went to eat lunch, since I was absosmurfly starving.

I walked to Greedy's Mess hall, where lunchtime was in progress. Most of the smurfs were talking in murmurs about the events of the week. I made my way to the line, and got some food from Greedy. He took notice of the bandage on my wrist, but bit his cheek and looked away. I walked along the isles, looking for a place to sit. I found an open seat next to Hefty and across from Smurfette. Hefty had a gauze bandage wrapped around his left elbow. Smurfette had been talking to Handy, but stopped to take notice of me. Hefty turned around, and saw me. I cracked a smile, and shrugged a shoulder. "Hey." I said.

Hefty stood up and took the plate from my hands, placing it gingerly on the table. Then he took me up by the armpits and slammed me up against the wall so I was eye level with him. _"What the smurf were you thinkin' Brainy?"_ He said angrily, his eyes looking scared and glassy. "Pullin' a stupid smurfin' stunt like that… _I- I oughta smurf your block off!"_

I felt too shocked to say or do anything. "You're _SMURF _lucky you and I are the same blood type, or else you woulda died." He said, his voice wobbling a little. "I know you're down about Clumsy"-he winced at the name-"but _smurfit, Brainy_! You're not the only one who's lost someone they love."

I knew who he was talking about. His twin brother, Dreamy. He'd committed suicide just recently. Hefty just buried him not a month ago. And he didn't even get to say goodbye… I instantly felt horrible. "I-I'm sorry, Hef." I stuttered, feeling shamefaced and remorseful. "I never meant to smurf so much trouble…"

Hefty let me down, crying on the wall above me. "If you're gonna write that eulogy for him," Smurfette said softly, patting Hefty comfortingly, "You'd best do it before supper. Papa smurf delayed the funeral for you."

I nodded, and ate my meal in silence. Immediately afterwards, I rushed back to my house. The door was still broken, and there was a dried puddle of red on the floor next to the table and a red-stained chef's knife lying across the room. The note I left was unfolded, and left on the table. I picked it up, then proceeded to burn it over a lit candle. _That Brainy Smurf was gone. And he was never, ever coming back. _

I shut myself in my study and smurfed up the greatest eulogy that I ever could've written. Then I dressed myself in my black formalwear, struggling slightly with the tie. I heard a knock, and went to go answer it. Smurfette was standing in the doorway, holding Baby on her hip. "Hi, Smurfette" I said, inviting her in, moving pieces of the broken door so she wouldn't hurt her delicate feet.

She was dressed in a black summer dress, with low black heels and a black hat. Her make up was simple and less heavy around her eyes. Baby was wearing a dark gray set of pajamas, as if the little guy's innocence made the black colors fade. "Hello, Brainy." She said with a feigned smile.

I saw her flinch and cover Baby's face when she saw the dried puddle and the knife on the other side of the room. "I'm- sorry about the mess…" I apologized, moving a chair for her, "I just got back from the lab."

She nodded, and accepted the seat. "I understand… I came by to see how you were doing," She said, "Papa smurf wants us to come and check on you every little while… make sure you're okay."

I nodded. _That's understandable… I did try and kill myself._ "Yeah. I'm okay." I said, cracking a slight smile. "You all ready to go to the funeral?" I asked plainly.

She nodded a little bit, swallowing hard. "As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose." She said, standing.

Baby garbled a little in reply. The three of us walked to the village square, where the entire village was gathered to pay their respects. The funeral itself was demure, but still effective. There was a casket directly to the left of the podium. It was hard to believe that he was in there… that he would never come out…

I shook the thought and sat in the second row behind Smurfette and Vanity. Seeing our arrival, Papa smurf cleared his throat and spoke above the crowd. "My little smurfs, we are here to celebrate the life of Clumsy smurf." He said.

The mere mentioning of the name brought tears to some smurfs, Hefty among them. "Clumsy was such a simple fellow… He loved his rock collection… he loved smurfberry pies… and he loved his friends." Papa reminisced. "He was always offering help to those in need, even after that help was refused.

"He- he often offered to help me in my lab… but I got tired of cleaning up his messes…" Papa said, looking at the wooden podium. "I think I'll regret not spending more time with him... he deserved it as much as any other smurf…"

Poet took Papa smurf's place behind the podium. "This…. This terrible tragedy plunged me into a severe case of writer's block," Poet admitted, studying the wood grains in the pedestal. "Nothing I wrote seemed good enough… So… So I decided to smurf an exert from a _human_ poem…"

The other smurfs were alarmed. _Poet with writer's block? Not reading his own poetry? It must've hit him hard…_ Poet read loud and clear in his almost musical voice,

"_The dew of the morning_

_Sunk chill on my brow-_

_It felt like the warning_

_Of what I feel now._

_Thy vows are all broken,_

_And light is thy fame;_

_I hear thy name spoken,_

_And share in its shame"_

The other smurfs wept and applauded Poet for his reading. I sat there and let he sad words wash over me. One by one, other smurfs gave a short eulogy. Most everyone who spoke expressed their regret for his treatment. They all regretted the way they spoke to Clumsy, the way they acted towards him. But overall, most everysmurf made some swipe at his balance problems. Jokey even went so far as to joke that he'd been smurfed on his head before the stork brought him to Papa. That made me feel angry, and hurt all at the same time. Who on Smurf was Jokey smurf, resident _lunatic,_ to say anything about _CLUMSY_ getting smurfed on his head? The grapes on that smurf!

Soon enough, it was my turn to speak. I stood and made my way to the podium, adjusting my glasses before I spoke. "Clumsy smurf was my best friend…" I started "Smurf, he was everybody's best friend. But he was mine most of all.

"Clumsy was undoubtedly the most simple of us smurfs. He was quick to laugh, slow to cry and even slower to anger. He loved swimming. He especially loved his rock collection…." I started trailing off, then snapped myself back to attention. "A lot of you don't know this about Clumsy… but- _he was never supposed to live to be 193 years old_."

Smurfs in the crowd muttered and garbled among themselves for a moment. "Clumsy had a mental condition that made him the way he was. As well as being partially deaf." I paused for a moment, letting that all sink in.

All the smurfs chattered amongst themselves, confused, understanding, regretting. I tried as hard as I could to avoid the tears in my eyes. "I-in the final days of his life," I said, trying to keep my voice loud and even, "Clumsy asked me something I'll never forget. He asked me "_Will I lose my dignity_?'

"I didn't understand the question… So he repeated it, '_when this thing takes my life, will I lose my dignity?_'" the tears I had been fighting bubbled over my eyes. "He said, '_I'm proud of who I am. But not everysmurf is._'"

I had to take a few deep breaths and lift my glasses to wipe my eyes before I could continue._"'So that's why I'm asking: Will I lose my dignity?'_" I said, finally letting the tears overtake me.

Papa smurf patted me on the back, trying to help me through the rest of my speech. "I'm sad he's gone from my sight," I admitted, nodding my head, "But I'm not sad knowing where he is right now. And I'm especially not sad to know that his death was relatively painless. His heart stopped before he could drown or have his neck broken by the waterwheel." I paused to take a breath, "It was a part of his condition… heart problems, that is."

I started crying more. _Come on. Just a couple more lines_, I told myself. "I am _SMURF _proud to have known Clumsy smurf." I said, my voice wavering. "I am _proud, smurfed _and _BLESSED_ to have known a smurf like Clumsy." I paused to take another deep breath, "Clumsy, You will always be my best friend. _Nothing_ will ever change that." I said in conclusion, leaving the podium and returning to my seat.

Papa smurf led a teary-eyed prayer, and carried the casket with Hefty, Smurfette, Handy, Tracker, and me. Clumsy's headstone was simple, yet left an impact on me. The casket was lowered into the grave, and Miner covered it with soil. Smurfette and I stayed and covered the dirt with the rocks and stones from Clumsy's collection. It just- felt _right_… they probably would've been lost in the smurfy abyss otherwise.

I was the last to leave the burial. I put my hand on the headstone, and said my final goodbyes to my fallen friend. "Clumsy… You were the smurfiest friend _anyone_ could've ever asked for." I said, "But I've got to let you go. I-I just wanted you to know that you'll always be my friend… and _I'll always remember you_."

I left the gravesite, and went to go home. It was a few days before I started to feel better. But I did feel better, at least. I had cleaned up the mess in my kitchen and asked Handy to fix my door. Everything in the village seemed to be calming down, returning to normal.

One day, about a week after the funeral, I heard a knock on my front door. It wasn't uncommon for me to get visitors- Papa smurf had me on "suicide watch" for awhile, and I'd get a visit from somesmurf every day just to check on me. I went to go answer it, putting my pen back in my inkwell. Papa smurf stood in the doorway. "Hello, Papa smurf." I said with a smile, "I'm doing just fine, actually working on a new book. Not feeling depressed at all."

"That's good, Brainy. I'm glad to see you've mostly recovered." Papa smurf said with a smile. "But that's not the reason I'm here."

I was a bit confused. "Why then?" I asked.

Papa smurf beckoned me out the door "Come with me," he said, "There's something I think you'll want to see."

I was a little confused, but followed Papa smurf nonetheless. I followed him all the way to Farmer's fields, where there was a small group of smurfs huddled together. "What's that?" I asked Papa smurf.

Papa smiled some more, and walked towards the group. "You'll see." He said.

I followed him to the group. "Ah, there you two are!" I recognized Greedy smurf among the group. "Now we can start."

In a circle sat Poet, Painter, Greedy, Hefty, Handy and Smurfette. "What is this?" I asked.

Poet stood up. "My name is Poet smurf, and I am dyslexic."

Poet sat down, then Painter stood up. "Oui, mai name is Paintair smurf, and Ah have Bipolar disorder."

Painter took his seat, then Greedy stood up, cupcake in hand. "My name is Greedy smurf, and I am a compulsive eater."

Greedy took a big bite of his cupcake and sat down. Hefty stood. "My name is Hefty Smurf, and I have Post-Traumatic-Stress- Disorder."

_Ah. From the ordeal with Dreamy_. I thought. Hefty sat and Handy stood in his place. "My name is Handy smurf, and I am 10 years orb-free." He said proudly.

_Ohh… He's referring to that little incident awhile back when Poet brought Orb to the village, and him and the others went a bit crazy with it._ I thought. _That was certainly an unsmurfy ordeal_… Handy sat down, and Smurfette stood. "My name is Smurfette, and I recovered from depression."

I sat there, feeling bewildered. Poet soon stood again, holding a piece of parchment. "Now, I think it would be smurfy if we smurfed off tonight's meeting with the singing of our anthem for Brainy and Papa smurf."

The others nodded in reply, then stood altogether and sang in unison.

"_Will I lose my dignity?_

_Will someone care?_

_Will I wake tomorrow _

_From this nightmare? _

_Forget regret. Or life is yours to miss_

_No other road, _

_No other way_

_No day but today."_

Upon concluding the song, the six smurfs sat down. Still astonished, I turned to Papa smurf "W-what is all this?" I asked.

"These six were inspired by what Clumsy said to you about being proud of who he was," Papa smurf explained, "So these smurfs decided to form a group to help each other deal with these things that make them feel ashamed, or that just make them different."

Painter nodded his head "Oui! Monsieur Clumsy! He eest inspiaration for zees!" he said with a wide smile.

"We call it '_The Clumsy Project_,'" Poet said, closing his eyes in remembrance of their fallen friend. "Formed to help smurfs like Clumsy, living everyday with these traits and disorders that make us unique."

Hefty nodded. "And we figured that since you were his best friend, you might want to sit with us on some of the meetings." He suggested.

I was almost to the point of tears. "You- _You all did this to honor Clumsy_…?" I said, still feeling a bit astonished.

They nodded their heads simultaneously. "It may not have seemed like it," Handy said, "But Clumsy left big handprints on all of our hearts. It'd feel wrong not to honor him like this."

I blinked away tears. "_You guys_…" I said with a smile, "I would be proud to sit in on your meetings."

The six smurfs chattered in gratefulness and proceeded with their meeting.

The meeting of _The Clumsy Project_ was now in session.


	5. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

.com/watch?v=SiOulF4Dzj0

What is this, you ask?

THIS IS THE PREVIEW FOR "THE CLUMSY PROJECT" THE MOVIE, THAT'S WHAT IT IS! :D

see comments and DA page for more info...


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